First Fire on Hearthstone Craftsbury - Damper doesn't seem to close fully

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ltng7679

New Member
Nov 8, 2008
12
Central CT
I just got my Craftsbury going for the first time today. I went through the 3 breakin burns during the day where I warmed it up and then shut it down to cool back to room temperature. I noticed that when I pushed the damper in the fire kept going strong though you could tell the air flow was a little less. It was only small pieces of kindling like the instructions said to use. The only way to get the fire out was to block off the air inlet at the rear of the stove . This makes me think that the gaskets of the glass door and the ash tray are fine. My chimney is about 22' long 6" stainless steel flexible pipe with an insulation kit installed. I have the feeling that the damper is not functioning properly. Anyone else with this kind of problem.

Thanks
Ed
 
I have the same stove. It is made so you cant close the air off all the way. There is a screw you can remove which will allow you to push the air lever all the way in to completely shut off the air. The screw is on the underside of the control lever.
 
I took the screw out of mine and I like the additional control it allows me. The only reason I can imagine that they made it that way is to achieve better/lower emissions. I hope you like your Craftsbury. I love mine.
 
Trapshooter,

Thanks for the quick reply. Did you do this to your stove? Is there any downside to doing this? I"ve got two small pieces of cord wood in the stove. I don't have a thermometer but the stove is making a lot of popping noises and the flames are very large. I took the screw out that you mentioned and shut the damper as far as it would go. This still helped a lot but I still had to block off the back air inlet to get the flame down. I guess I'll have to get a stove thermometer.

Ed
 
You don't want to snuff out the flame, especially with a fresh load of wood. It's normal that the stove will flare up and temps will increase as the wood gases are burned in secondary combustion. This is the way the stove was designed to operate. Snuffing out the flames will make the stove a smoking smudgepot and will risk backpuffing. Before modifying the stove in any way get familiar with its operation over a wide variety of burning conditions. Read the manual for best burning practices and safety warnings:

Follow these safety precautions:
Never modify this stove in any way,
especially the primary air control system.

It's also a direct warranty violation:

Exclusions:
4. Damage resulting from installation, modification, alteration, repair or service of the Woodstove by any
party other than HearthStone or an authorized HearthStone dealer (a “Dealer”).
 
I too have the Craftsbury, it's a nice little stove. Mine seems to burn best when I get it over 400 degrees, but this is sometimes a challenge. I think that this whole wood burning stove thing is really more of an art than a science. What I mean is that doing a certain thing with the air control or wood load doesn't always give the same result each time. Every time I think I know what I am doing I find out I don't.
 
Yes, I did it to my stove. The warranty isn't an issue for me since I bought it used (1 year old). I don't believe the warranty is transferable. I would echo what BEGREEN said, you should probably put the screw back in and use the stove a while to get used to it before considering any changes. The main reason I took out the screw is in case of a runaway/overfire situation (and because I am somewhat of a control freak). In the few weeks I have been using it this hasn't even come close to being an issue.

As was said, don't try to snuff out the fire. With your break-in fires using just a little wood, you aren't going to over fire it. Just let it burn out. Definitely get the thermometer. You will be surprised at the raging inferno you can have in there without getting anywhere near over fired.
 
Stove seems to be running fine now. I guess my wife and I just got a little freaked out when the smoke alarm when off due to the outgassing of the paint the first time we fired the stove. I had the windows open for over an hour but enough of the gas worked its way upstairs to set off the alarm. I marked where the stop will place the damper if it was in place and have been running it no lower than that. I also checked with the stove cold to be sure that the damper will not open any further with the stop 'uninstalled'. I like the idea of being able to fully close the damper when the stove is not in use since I hate to see $$ going up the chimney with wasted furnace produced hot air.
 
That primary air control lever will not stop the wide open secondary system from siphoning your furnace produced hot air up the chimney. You'll need an OAK to do that or a way to block the air intake system.
 
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